Water heater shield



April 15, 1958 Filed Jan. 24, 1956 Fig W. H. SHAFER WATER HEATER SHIELD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 2

wf//fam' H. sh afer IN VEN TOR.

W. H. SHAFER WATER HEATER SHIELD April 15, 1958 Filed .Ja/m. 24, 195e:

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mm E 5 H. www m m @w Fig. 6

United States Patent WATER HEATER SHIELD William H. Shafer, Phoenix, Ariz.

Application January 24, 1956, Serial No. 560,954

4 Claims. (Cl. 126-85) This invention relates to safety devices for water heaters,

The principles of the invention are best embodied in a device intended to be installed around a heater or other appliance utilizing heat from heating elements, 'burner or the like, in order to eliminate llash lires in storage areas where gasoline or other flammable material is stored or used. When properly installed the shield seals the open ilarne from the area having the flammable material and inducts air for combustion from the exterior ot' this area. Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a device which by virtue of sealing off the part ot' the heater having the lburner or the like therein, prevents combustible fumes from adjacent combustible, volatile material from being ignited by the heater burner.

A more general object of the invention is to ensure safety from explosion in use and operation of appliances which rely on localized heat for their operation, such as gas hot Water heaters, this being assured by reason of the separation of the flame in the heater from any possible contact with fumes or gas adjacent to the heater.

A further object of the invention is to provide a neatly appearing, lightweight attachment for a hot water heater, the attachment being easily mounted on a standard hot water heater or the like and functioning to provide a significant degree of safety.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of the attachment in a suggested environment that is, on a hot water heater that is located in a confined area;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a top view of the structure in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a front view on reduced scale of the structure in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional View taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a top view of the upper part of the box showing particularly the portions thereof which clamp against the outer surface of the hot water heater.

Explosive gases have been ignited on occasion by the burner of a hot water heater. ln each instance there has been inadequate ventilation for the hot water heater or no provision was made for isolating the Volume around the burner from the ambient atmosphere laden with these volatile vapors. In Figure 1 there is a schematic illustration of a conned area 10 in which a typical heater 12 is located. This heater is ofthe gas fire type including a 'burner 14 together with various controls 16 and 18, hot and cold water inlet and outlet pipes and 22, and a chimney 24. The area 10 is confined by means of Walls 26 together with :t floor 2S. All of the illustration 2,830,574 Patented Apr. 15, 1958 ice' described above is intended to be representative of standard appliances, while the enclosure is schematically repre sentative of any area accommodating a heater or like appliance.

A shield 30 is mounted on the lower portion of the heater 12 and rests upon the floor ZS. The shield consists of a box 32 of a suitable shape, for example rectangular and including four walls. The box 32 rests on floor 28 and there is pliable calking 34 at the junction of the box with the floor in order to prevent air leakage. The upper edge of the two side walls of box 32 protrudes laterally in order to form thin rails 36 and 38 on which two sets of channels are disposed. The first set of channels comprises channels 39 and 40 and they are on opposite edges of top panel 44. The second set of channels consists of channels 46 and 47, these channels being located on the edges of panel 48 which, together with panel 44 comprises the top of box 32. Channels 46 and 47 are` large enough for channels 39 and 40 to slide freely therein so that at the portions of panels 44 and 48 where they overlap, channels 46, 39 and rail 36 are nested, and channel 47, channel 40 and rail 38 are nested (Figure 3). Panel 44 has an approximately semi-circular opening 50 at the edge which confronts panel 4S, while panel 48 has an approximately semi-circular opening 52 which coacts with opening 50 in embracing the jacket of heater 12. Collar 53 also of semi-circular form is mounted on the top surface of panel 44 at the margin of opening 50, while a similar collar 55 is at the margin of opening 52. Ears 56 are at the ends of collar 53, while cooperating ears 58 are at the ends of collar 60. The ears are formed in pairs with means for drawing them and hence the collars and panels 42 and 48 together. The preferred means consist of bolts 62 with nuts thereon, the bolts being passed through aligned apertures in pairs of the ears 56 and 58. By drawing the panels together in this fashion the soft rubber or plastic or other suitable material gasket 66 is brought tightly against the outer surface of the jacket of the heater 12. In this way the shield is not only air sealed 'but vibration sealed against the heater 12.

There is a frontal opening 70 in the front wall of box 32. Extensible collar 72, consisting of sections 74 and 76 that are telescoped together, is secured to the front wall of box 32 with its passageway in alignment with frontal opening 70. Door jamb 78 is secured to the outer section of the extensible collar 72 and has adoor 80 hinged thereto with a hasp and keeper assembly 34 connected with it to accommodate a pad lock or the like. Louvered vents 86 are formed in the door S0 in order to allow free air to pass through the door S0 while it is closed for admission to the burner 14 region of the heater 12.

An aperture is formed in one of the walls 26 of the confined area 12 and the door jamb 78 is placed on the outside of it. Calking 90 is used to seal any cracks around the contines of the aperture in wall 26 and the section 76 of the extensible collar 72. This arrangement positions the door on the outside of the area 10. inasmuch as it is intended that the shield 30 be so positioned that the controls are accessible through door 30, the heater may be lighted and serviced as well as inspected through door 80 from the exterior of area 10. There are two main adjustments provided in the shield 30. The first is the collar 72 which allows the heater 12 distance from one of the walls, say wall 26, to be variable. Although collar 72 is shown with only two sections, more may be added if needed. The second adjustment is in the top of box 32. Panels 44 and 46 may be adjusted toward and away from each other to compensate for slight variations in diameter of heater 12, the collars 53 and 55 being sufficiently exible taken with the Yflexibility of the gasket 62 to com.

pensate for the out-of-round condition that will exist when the opening for the heater 12 is enlarged by moving panels 44 and 4S away from each other.

The function of the shield has been described previously. Brieiy, it prevents ambient volatile vapors that are carried by the atmospheric air from being inducted into the region of the burner 14 and possibly exploding. This is accomplished by taking the air directly from the exterior of the closed area 1G wherein the heater together with sources of these vapors may be located.

The foregoing is considered illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Various modications as will become apparent to those skilled in the art, for example a change in the shape of box 32, may be made without departing from the claimed invention. In addition, various alterations may be made such as the inclusion of an aperture 93 through which gas pipe 94 of the heater 12 is itted. This aperture may be relocated depending upon the place at which the gas pipe 94 and its heater l2, such a variable being dependent upon the manufacturers make of heater. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. For use with a combustible fuel type heater located in a confined area that has an apertured wall, a shield for the heater, said shield comprising a box structure adapted to be mounted on the heater for enclosing the burner portion of the heater and having side walls, one of said side walls having an opening, an extensible collar in communication with the opening in said side wall of said box structure, said extensible collar having a door at one end, said door adapted to be located on one side of the apertured wall, and said collar adapted to be located in the aperture in said wall whereby air from the exterior of said confined area is capable of being inducted through said collar and into said box, said box including top panels, means providing an overlapping sliding connection between said panels so that the panels are relatively movable in a direction transverse to the top of the box structure, said panels having confronting edges forming an aperture in which to accommodate the outer surface of the heater, a collar which has a part carried by each panel and located around the last mentioned aperture, and means connected with the last mentioned collar for drawing it tightly against said heater in order to seal said box structure on said heater.

2. The combination of claim l wherein there is a gasket between the last mentioned collar and the heater.

3. The combination of claim 1, wherein said means providing an overlapping sliding connection between said panels comprise inteitted channels at opposite edges of said panels and at the top edges of two opposed side walls of said box structure, said top edges of said opposed sidc walls of said box structure being intertted with said channels whereby said panels are adjustably interconnected with each other and with the box structure.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said collar on said panels protrudes upwardly from the upper surfaces of said panels and has a gasket in juxtaposition thereto.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,087,983 Martin July 27, 1937 2,285,108 Bryant s June 2, 1942 2,632,435 Lundstrum Mar. 24, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 573,356 Germany Mar. 30, 1933 

